Citizens Advice submission to the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee inquiry into the future world of work and rights of workers

In October 2016, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee opened an inquiry into the ‘changing world of work and rights of workers’.

We have seen rapid change in the labour market and how we understand the concept of work. More people now work for themselves, via agencies and on variable hours. At Citizens Advice, we supported 208,000 people with 377,000 employment-related issues in the last year alone. This gives us a unique insight into the benefits and risks of these changes.

Our submission to the BEIS Committee’s inquiry identified areas where our evidence shows the current system for developing and enforcing employment rights struggling to keep up with the pace of change. These include clarity around employment status, more robust mechanisms for enforcing rights, support for self-employed people, and reassessing the role of employers. It sets out our evidence in each area, alongside our recommendations.